Subscribe. The March 2026 Humble Choice dropped yesterday, and Tempest Rising ($39.99 on Steam) plus Chants of Sennaar ($14.99) alone cost more than three months of the subscription. Six more games come with them.
The full lineup, live now through March 31:
| Game | Genre | Steam Price |
|---|---|---|
| Tempest Rising | RTS (Command & Conquer-style) | $39.99 |
| Chants of Sennaar | Linguistic puzzle adventure | $14.99 |
| Sworn | Co-op action roguelite (Early Access) | $24.99 |
| Etrian Odyssey III HD | JRPG dungeon crawler | $29.99 |
| Bread & Fred | Co-op precision platformer | $9.99 |
| Zero Hour | Tactical anti-terror FPS | $19.99 |
| Smalland: Survive the Wild | Survival (Grounded-style) | $19.99 |
| Hard West 2 | Western turn-based tactics | $24.99 |
Total retail value: ~$185. Subscription price: $14.99/month.
⚠️ Key expiry warning: Tempest Rising’s Steam key expires August 3, 2026 — claim it the moment you subscribe, not six months later. Sworn’s key expires October 7, 2026. The remaining six games expire April 7, 2027.
Tempest Rising: Finally, a Real C&C Successor
Command & Conquer fans have been waiting for this since Tiberian Sun. Tempest Rising launched April 2025 from Slipgate Ironworks, published by 3D Realms and Knights Peak — and it’s the real deal.
Metacritic: 80. OpenCritic: 79 (79% of 42 critics recommend). Steam: Very Positive.
The C&C comparison isn’t marketing copy. MCV deployment, harvesters, two distinct factions, industrial soundtrack, mission design that echoes Tiberian Dawn campaign structure. Meristation gave it 86/100: “a triumph that evokes the best sensations Command and Conquer offered in the mid-90s.” PC Gamer called it a game that “does more than sneak into Command and Conquer’s room and prance about in its clothes.”
The honest weaknesses: AI pathfinding occasionally fumbles, multiplayer balance leans toward one faction in competitive play, and the unit models are a bit toy-like compared to the gritty tone. This isn’t StarCraft 2 — the strategic depth caps out earlier. But for RTS fans who’ve been waiting two decades for someone to pick up the C&C baton and run with it, Tempest Rising delivers.
At $39.99 standalone it’s worth it. At $14.99 bundled with seven other games, it’s the easiest gaming purchase of the month.
Chants of Sennaar: The Puzzle Game Worth Every Award It Got
This one has been sitting on wishlists since 2023. Winner of Best Indie at the 2024 New York Game Awards. BAFTA nominated. The Game Awards nominee. It finally landed in a bundle where you’ll actually play it.
Metacritic: 86. OpenCritic: 82 (91% of critics recommend). Steam: Overwhelmingly Positive.
The concept: you explore a Tower of Babel-inspired world where every faction speaks a different written language. No one explains the grammar or vocabulary. You learn by context — watching what characters do when they say certain glyphs, testing your guesses in-game. When a language finally clicks, it feels different from most puzzles. God is a Geek gave it 8/10: “one of the most unique and interesting puzzle games I’ve ever played.” HardcoreGamer: 85/100, “every frame is a piece of art.”
Runtime: about 8-10 hours. Complete, focused, no padding. If you’ve been waiting for a sale on this, stop waiting.
The Rest of the Lineup: Quick Verdicts
Sworn ($24.99, Steam Very Positive — 83% of 2,316 reviews): 1-4 player co-op action roguelite. You’re fighting through a corrupted Camelot to take down a twisted King Arthur. Fast-paced, hand-drawn art style, surprisingly deep build variety. Still in Early Access — the bones are excellent, the content volume is “good but not complete.” Its key expires October 7, 2026, so you have time, but don’t sit on it indefinitely.
Etrian Odyssey III HD (~$29.99): Atlus HD remaster of the 2010 DS dungeon crawler. You draw your own dungeon maps on a grid. If that sounds satisfying, you’ll sink 60+ hours into this. If that sounds like homework, skip. No middle ground — this is a niche game that its audience loves obsessively.
Bread & Fred ($9.99): Two penguins roped together trying to climb a mountain. Co-op precision platformer that will test whether you and your partner communicate under pressure. Solo mode exists with a sandbag standing in for your absent partner, which is both practical and somehow sad. Punishing, funny, worth playing with someone patient.
Zero Hour (~$19.99): Tactical team FPS, anti-terrorism setup — slower and more deliberate than most shooters, closer to early Rainbow Six than Siege. Not polished enough to replace your main tactical shooter, but worth playing if you’ve burned out on Siege and want similar DNA without the ranked grind.
Smalland: Survive the Wild (~$19.99): You’re tiny. A mosquito is now a real problem. Base-building, insect-mounting, resource gathering in an oversized world. Closer to Grounded than Valheim. Better in co-op — solo is functional but the world feels emptier than it should.
Hard West 2 (~$24.99): XCOM in the supernatural Old West, with a poker-based “bravado” mechanic that rewards aggressive play. The first Hard West was a cult classic; the sequel tightened almost everything. Released August 2022, still holds up for turn-based tactics fans.
Is Humble Choice Worth $14.99 in March?
Yes. The math: Tempest Rising ($39.99) + Chants of Sennaar ($14.99) = $54.98 at current Steam prices. The subscription is $14.99. The other six games are gravy.
For context, February’s lineup headlined with Resident Evil Village, Date Everything, and Core Keeper — also strong. January was decent but lighter. March is the strongest of the three.
The yearly plan ($154.99) works out to ~$12.92/month — saves about $25 versus month-to-month if you stay subscribed for a year. Worth it if March isn’t your first month subscribing.
Most important thing: claiming games and playing them are separate steps. Humble Choice games are yours permanently once claimed. But don’t let that Tempest Rising key expire — August 3, 2026 is sooner than it sounds. Subscribe, claim everything immediately, then figure out what to play first.
Start with Tempest Rising if you grew up on C&C. Start with Chants of Sennaar if you want something genuinely unlike anything else in your library.
Also live right now: the Humble Cartridge Chaos Bundle — 8 retro Steam games for $19. And if you’re still on the fence about whether Humble Choice is worth committing to, we’ve broken that down in detail.
